Every year, the release of the State Papers reveals a treasure trove of opinions, views and attitudes all committed to paper by ministers, diplomats and officials who wrote safe in the knowledge that the documents wouldn’t be revealed to the public for 30 years.

This year thousands of declassified documents are being released relating mostly to 1994. Irish Times journalists Mark Hennessy and Ronan McGreevy have spent a week reading through the files – from official memos to personal notes – in search of the stories, views and attitudes from 30 years ago that reveal a side to Irish officialdom previously under wraps.

It was a pivotal year for politicians, the Catholic Church and Anglo-Irish affairs – and for Irish dancers when Riverdance debuted, the Irish football team at the world cup, for taoiseach Albert Reynolds who stood waiting – in vain – on the tarmac in Shannon Airport for an ‘unwell’ Russian president Boris Yeltsin to make an appearance, and so much more.

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